On Thursday, from 11 to 12 p.m. LADOT and Councilmember Tom LaBonge will be re-dedicating the Alex Baum Bicycle Bridge in a ceremony from 11 to 12 at the bridge, located above Los Feliz Blvd. The dedication ceremony will showcase new bronze plaques (unveiled earlier this year at the Blessing of the Bicycles) honoring Alex Baum and his role in promoting bicycling in Los Angeles (just in time for his birthday.) Parking will be limited so we are encouraging attendees to bike, take transit or carpool to the ceremony. Join in the celebration to get a first-hand look at the plaques and a chance to hear guest speakers honor Alex’s accomplishments and L.A’s long bicycling history.

Please note, that the bicycle bridge will be closed to bicyclists from 10:30 to 11:30 for the purpose of the ceremony. A clearly signed detour will be available for bicyclists passing through the area at this time.

Andy Clarke, of the League of American Bicyclists, announces the City of Los Angeles’ bronze level award as a Bicycle Friendly Community.

This morning, LADOT Bikeways staff, Councilmember Reyes, and representatives from the Mayor’s Office, gathered with bicycle advocates including members from the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition at Mac Arthur Park to witness the League of American Bicyclists President, Andy Clarke recognize the City as a Bicycle Friendly Community at the bronze level. While Los Angeles was only one of several dozen new bicycle friendly communities to receive an award, the League recognized the City’s distinct challenges, affirming that, “Leaders like Los Angeles serve as a great example that even cities known for Carmageddon can take cost-effective steps to start making cycling an integrated part of the transportation system.”

The Los Angeles City Planning Commission today took a step towards making Los Angeles a truly bicycle friendly city. In a unanimous vote, the Commission adopted a Bicycle Parking Ordinance that would vastly expand the number of new bike parking spaces required in new developments of all kinds throughout Los Angeles. You can follow the blow-by-blows of the hearing at the twitter feed BikeBlogChris, or the hashtags #bikeLA and #lamtg. You can download a copy of the pdf here.

Over 15 dedicated bicyclists and advocates showed up in City Hall Room 350 today to support the ordinance. Kudos are due to Rye Baerg, the driving force behind the ordinance in the City Planning Department, and all the dedicated members of the public who have helped the ordinance reach where it is today.

Thanks, Rye (image courtesy LACBC)

The next step for the Bicycle Parking Ordinance is a hearing before the PLUM (Planning & Land Use Management) Committee. Once through PLUM, the ordinance goes to a full hearing before the City Council before becoming part of the City’s municipal code. When the ordinance is agendized from the PLUM Committee, we’ll be sure to let you know.

The most recent meeting of the Bike Plan Implementation Team (BPIT) assembled this past Tuesday at City Hall Room 721 to discuss a wide range of topics centered around a single goal: making Los Angeles a better place to ride a bike. This BPIT meeting, while less contentious than in months past, accomplished a great deal and took the first steps on many projects that will end in miles of bike lanes, miles of bicycle boulevards, and safer bicyclists.

Below the fold, we’ll go through the details of this month’s meeting. Presentations by Pat Hines of Safe Moves, updates on newly finished bike lanes by Paul Meshkin, a presentation on priority bike lane projects in central LA & NELA, and discussions about prioritizing Bicycle Friendly Streets were all covered.

Remember, the BPIT sets the agenda for implementing the 2010 LA Bike Plan. If you think something is missing from the meetings, make yourself heard.

Among other items, which included Master Conditional Use Permits (CUPs) for a few downtown developments and a measure to support “adult cabaret” uses at a nightclub out in the Industrial District, the LADOT Bike Program presented conceptual designs for bike lane projects on Figueroa Street, Flower Street, Spring Street, and Main Street. Ably covered by the excellent Blogdowtown, you can read the specifics of our presentation there. We plan to give these projects fuller coverage in the days to come, and we will make the powerpoint presentation given to the DLANC Planning & Land Use Committee available online along with it. (more…)

This past Tuesday, the Planning Subcommittee for the Los Angeles BAC (Bicycle Advisory Committee) met with LADOT Bicycle Program staff to discuss a range of bicycle related planning issues. As the first line in detailed technical advice for Bikeways engineers, the BAC Planning Subcommittee helps LADOT engineers to troubleshoot infrastructure design and drum up public support for new bike lane and bike path projects. Their meetings, as always, are open to the public – held at the Caltrans building every month and noticed on the LADOT Bike Program website beforehand.

This month, the BAC Planning Subcommittee discussed environmental review for the LA Bike Plan, progress on the Expo Line bike path, possible roadblocks for bikeways along the Crenshaw Line, bringing bike infrastructure to Westwood Boulevard, and bicycle issues surrounding the NBC/Universal project.

(Ed. Note: I, Christopher Kidd, am back from the Comprehensive Exam for his degree in Urban Planning at USC. We’ll have a recap on yesterday’s BPIT meeting up in the next few days. In the meantime, here’s an update on our department’s attempt to bring bike lanes to Foothill Boulevard.)

The LADOT Bike Program has, among other projects, been working to bring nearly 4 miles of new bike lanes to the north-eastern San Fernando Valley on Foothill Boulevard. LADOT Bikeways engineers last month presented to the Foothill Trails Neighborhood Council on a 1.5 mile section of this street. In taking comments from the NC, the specter of equestrian-bicyclist conflict once again raised its head, though in different form than we saw during the hearings for the LA Bike Plan.

Below the fold we’ll cover the project particulars, the concerns raised by the Foothill Trails NC, some possible compromises drafted by LADOT, and what you can do to make your opinion heard.